)
)
President Kagame said in an interview that he will be seeking re-election for a fourth term in office.
“Yes, I am indeed a candidate,” he said in an interview with Jeune Afrique yesterday, Tuesday
Kagame also said he did not care about what the Western world would make of his change of course, stating; "I'm sorry for the West, but what the West thinks is not my problem".
"I am happy with the confidence that the Rwandans have in me. I will always serve them, as much as I can," he added
)
)
)
Kagame announced in April this year that he was looking forward to retiring and handing over power after serving as President for 23 years.
But the country's ruling party, the Rwandan Patriotic Front retained his as its chairman in April. He won the last presidential election in 2017 with 98.8% of the vote.
Kagame has been president of Rwanda since 2000. A new term would extend is reign to 30 years.
Kagame has won international acclaim for presiding over peace and economic growth since the end of the 1994 genocide, in which an estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed.
But he has faced mounting criticism for what human rights groups say are the suppression of political opposition and the muzzling of independent media.
Kagame has rejected these accusations.
The United States in 2015 criticised the constitutional change, saying Kagame should step down when his term ended and allow a new generation of leaders to come through.